The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga women’s tennis team came up just a few shots short in an epic battle with Furman at the Southern Conference Tournament in Elon, N.C., today. The Lady Mocs ended their season with a 4-3 loss to the Paladins in the quarterfinals.

UTC scored three wins in singles play and was barely edged in doubles action in today’s match. Chattanooga split the first two singles with freshman Kelsey Coots (Huntsville, Ala.) tying the score at 1-1 with a win at No. 5.

Freshman Kayla Jones (Memphis, Tenn.) put UTC up 2-1 with her (7-5, 7-5) win over Katherine Oudin at No. 3. Jones avenged a three-set loss to Oudin in the regular season meeting.

The last three bouts all went three sets, beginning with junior Alexa Flynn (Memphis, Tenn.) at No. 4. She won the first set 6-2 against Michele Stanford before dropping the second 6-4. Stanford took the point with a 6-3 win in the third.

Chattanooga came out of the gates quickly in doubles play, behind Jones and freshman Katie Polk’s (Woodstock, Ga.) 8-3 win over Kelly Sullivan and Margaret Boyette at No. 3. Coots and Flynn jumped out to a 3-1 lead over Moreno-Kaste and Kline at No. 1 while Nurik and Chadwell trailed Stanford and Murray 4-1 early at No. 2.

Furman battled back to take a 5-3 lead at No.1, but UTC also closed the gap at No. 2. Nurik and Chadwell tied their match at seven before falling 9-7. Flynn and Coots forced a tiebreaker, but lost the extra frame 7-5 to end the match.

UTC finishes its 2013 campaign with an 18-5 overall record, the most wins for the program since going 23-1 in 1991. Nurik closed out her career as UTC’s first four-time All-SoCon performer in program history.

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